Wild-oats separator



R. L. OWENS'.

WILD voms SEPARATOR.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. I4, 191'8. 1,400,233.

Patented Dec. 13, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

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- WILD OATS SE-PARATOR. APPLICATION FILED MAR. I4, I918. 1,400,233, yPatented Dec. 13, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2. Y

UNITED STATES RICHARD L. OWENS, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA.

WILD-CATS SEPARATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 13, 1921.

Application led March 14, 1918. Serial No. 222,389.

T0 all w hom t may con-cern.'

Be it known that I, RICHARD L. OWENS, a citizen of the United States,resident of Minneapolis, county of Hennepin, State of` Minnesota, haveinvented certain'new and useful Improvements in Wild-Oats Separators, ofwhich the following is a specification.

A wildY oat grain, besides being distinguished by its color from thetame, is further characterized by vits long, slender shape, while thetame oats, although; slender as compared with wheat or barley, areplumper and fuller through the middle ofthe kernel and atl the head thanthe wild oats. The dark color of the wild oat grain andthe fact of itsbeing composed largely of husk make its presence objectionable in tameoats, reducing the marketable value and price thereof.

The object, consequently, of myk invention is to provide an apparatusbyV means of which the long, slender kernels, of grains of wild oats canbe easily and effectually separated from the fuller, plumper kernels oftame oats, advantage being taken of the difference in shape of thegrains.

A further object is` to prov-ide av machine of simple construction andlarge capacityY andone which will effectual-ly perform the separatingoperationdesired..

The invention consists generally in vari-k ous constructions andcombinations, all as hereinafter described and particularly point-V 'edout in the claims. y

In the eeeempenyns drawings forming part of this specification, i

Figure l is a vertical sectional viewy through Yan oats separator`embodying myv invention, Y 'i Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the same,

Fig. 3 is a transverse; sectional view through one of the sieves,showing the manner of separating the wild from the tame` oats,

Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view, showing the manner of mounting thesupporting bandv or hoop at one end of the rotary sieve,

Fig. 5 is aV similar. view, showing the arrangement of the band at theopposite end of the sieve.

In the. dre-Wins, 2 represente e Suitable frame.. in which theeepereeeseprereteee mounted. 3 is a hopper mounted in the upper portionof the frame, having a gravity feed opening et through which the mixtureof tame and wild oats is delivered.

I prefeif to provide two rotary sieves in thel t'op of the machine, eachcomposed of a wire mesh 5 folded to form an 'elongated member providedwith a plurality of flat screening surfaces 6 alternating with inwardlyprojecting ledges or shelves 7 eX- tending lengthwise of the sieve,preferably from end to end thereof. These ledges are formed by crimpingand squeezing together longitudinal sections of the wire mesh and eachledge is of suflicient width to raise the mixture of tame and wild oatsa suiicient distance so that, as the kernels roll or slide off theledgeson the outside of the screen they will assume a vertical positionin. falling and be presented endwise to the flat screening surfacesbetween the ledges in the lower portion of the screen. Generally themixture will be carried up to a point beyond or near the level of thecenter of the sieve and dropping back the oat kernels will iiy end firsttoward the flattened area 6 and the comparatively thin or slender headsof the wild oatswill pass through the meshes of the sieve and out of themachine, while the plumper tame oats will either lodge in the meshes tofall ofi' sidewise later in the revolution of the sieve or will strikeand rebound and gradually work down the in-V clination of the sieve tothe discharge end thereof.. A

The ledges being each composed of a deuble thickness of the wire mesh,will not al-` low either the. tame or wild oat kernels to pass throughVor even to lodge except temporarily thereon, the function of the ledgesbeing to raise the stream of mixed tame and wild oats a sufficientdistance above the bottom of the sieve so that in falling from theledges the kernels will assume an endwise p0- sition and the thinslender ones, which will include the wild oats and the imperfect tameoatkernels, will pass rapidly through the meshes of the fiat screeningsurfaces between Vthe ledges while the plumper kernels will eitherrebound therefrom and travel down the inclination of the screen andtherebyfbe separated from the tame oats o r if they lodge in then1esh--s` they will` later fall. out

by gravity and mingle with the other plump kernels in the stream flowingover the'bottom of the sieve, the thin imperfect kernels and the wildoats passing through the sieve will be discharged upon the ground orinto a receptacle, such as the pan 17 arranged beneath said sieves.

I prefer to provide two of the sieves in the top of the machine,arranged sidev by side, the discharge opening i being divided to directa part of the stream to each of the sieves. rThe number of sieves is nothowever material. Each sieve has hubs 8 and 9 thereon, mounted on shafts10 which have bearings at 12 and 13 in the frame of the machine.

The hubs'have bars 14; radiating therefrom at intervals in the forni ofspokes and at the upper ends of the sieves, bands 15 preferably of sheetmetal, are provided, fitting Within the said ends ofthe sieves andsecured by suitable means, such as jrivets 16, to the bars 14C.

At the lower ends of the sieves 5 I prefer to provide a hopper 18 toreceive the pliunp kernels of tame oats for delivery to a short spoutsection 19 which in turn delivers the kernels to a sieve 5acorresponding to those described and mounted on a similar shaft 10il andinclined rdownwardly and toward the opposite end of the machine or thereceiving end of the sieves 5. This sieve 5a is made in substantiallythe same manner as the sieve described and provided with correspondingledges on which the mixture of tame and wild oats is subjected to asimilar treatment, the thinwild oat kernels passing endwise through thefiat surfaces in the bottom of the sieve, while the oat kernels arecarried along to a suitable discharge spout 2O.V rThis lower sieve ispreferably pro. vided for the reason that some of the wild oats maystill be mixed with the tame oats when discharged from the upper sievesor there may still be some imperfectly formed tame oat kernels in themixture. The ma.- lchine in effect kprovides a double separation andwhen the oats have been passed through both sets` of sieves thedischarge at the lower end of the lower sieve will beL practically cleanand composed entirely of full Vplump tame oat kernels suitable for seed.

Any suitable means may be employed for` driving the sieves, but l prefertoprovide a drive sprocket 21having a belt 22'engaging similar sprockets23k on the shafts of the sieves for revolving them in the same direc-`tion, the belt then passing to another operating part'of the machine,such as the bagger. The sieves may be operated at any desired speedfound to vbe most effective for the proper separation of the wild fromthe tame oats'.

By making the meshes of the sieve larger l am able to use this machinefor separating tame oats from.wheat orbarley, in which advantage will betaken of the difference in shape of the kernels, the Voats fallinglengthwise through the meshes of the screen in substantiallythe samemanner as described above with reference to the wild oat kernels, whilethe grains of wheat and barley, being thicker and plumper, willV eitherlodge inY the meshes, which are too small to `allow their passage, orwill rebound thereover. The principle of separation will be the same inboth cases. Y l claim as my invention:

' 1. An apparatus for separating oats from other grain comprising aframe, an inclined cylindrical sieve mounted to revolve therein andcomposed of a wire mesh having a plurality of flat surfaces formedtherein alternating with inwardly projecting ledges, the mixture of oatsand other grains being introduced into one end 'ofsaid sieve andgathered up by said led es as the sieve Vrevolves, the mixture slidingover the edges the kernels of grain will be carried a con-V siderabledistance on the upside of the sieve. 2. An apparatus for separating oatsfrom other grain comprising a frame, a revolving cylindrical sievetherein composed of wireV mesh having a series of fiat separating sur-Vfaces and a series'of inwardly projecting ledges between said surfacesextending from end to end of said sieve, said'wire mesh being foldedorvcrimped longitudinally atV regular intervals betweenvsaid flattenedsurfaces toY form said vinwardly projecting ledges, the walls of eachledge being pressed into parallel relation, the mixture being deliveredto one end of the sieve and said ledges elevating it as the sieverevolves and the mixture flowing over'said ledges on `the upside of thesieveV and dropping Yvertically upon said fiattened surfaces, theslender oats passing through Y the meshes while the plumper grainsrebound or lodge therein.

3. An apparatus for separating wild from tame oats comprising a'xframe,a pair of inclined revolving sieves mounted in the upper portion of saidframe and having open ends for receiving and discharging the grain, athird revolving sieve mounted beneath said pair and having means forreceiving the grain discharged from both of the sieves above, each sievebeing composed of wire mesh having a series of inwardly projectingledges formed lengthwise therein with fiattened separating surfacesbetween them, the mixture beingcarried up by saidledges discharged uponthe lower walls of the sieves, the thin wild oats passing through Vthemeshes of said flattened surfaces while the tame oats rebound or lodgetherein.

4. A sieve for separating wild from tame oats comprising a wire meshhaving a plurality of flattened separating surfaces formed therein thewalls of said mesh between said separating surfaces being foldedinwardly to form longitudinal ledges within said sieve and the sides ofeach ledge being pressed into substantially parallel relation, and bandsprovided at the ends of the mesh seated on said flattened surfaces andhaving loops formed therein foi` engaging and bracing the walls of saidledges.

5. An apparatus for separating wild from tame oats comprising a frame,va pair of inolined revolving sieves mounted in parallel relation in theupper portion of said frame and having open ends for receiving anddischarging the grain, a third revolving sieve mounted beneath said pairand oppositely inclined and having an open upper end positioned toreceive the material from the lower ends of said upper sieves, eachsieve being composed of wire mesh having a series of inwardly projectingledges extending lengthwise thereof with flattened separating surfacesbetween them, the mixture carried up by the ledges of said revolvingsieves dropping from the upper portion thereof and the thin wild oatspassing through the meshes of the lower portions of said sieves whilethe tame oats rebound or lodge therein.

In Witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 4th da of March,1918.

RI HARD L. OVENS.

